**Author's note ... this is kind of an AU (Alternate Universe) type thing these days. Anissa and I decided that it's a lot more fun this way.

"Obi-Wan! So glad you could make it! It's good to see that you made it out of the arena alive after the hyperball match."

Obi-Wan took Padme's hand in both of his. "I was starting to doubt things a little when that mob rushed me; luckily I had a few tricks up my sleeve."

"It was pretty entertaining to see them start chasing Mace."

Obi-Wan laughed. "I don't know if he'll ever forgive me for that."

Anakin walked up. "Good evening, Obi-Wan." They shook hands. "Enjoy the party."

Obi-Wan made his way toward the hors d'oeuvres. "Oh, I plan on it!"

Padme turned to Anakin and smiled. "How are you doing, Mr. Skywalker?"

He leaned in to kiss her. "Much better now, Mrs. Skywalker," he said, and grinned. "You look beautiful."

"Naturally," she smirked.

"I'm going to have to quit giving you compliments, you're starting to get like me," he laughed. She waved her hand at him dismissively and turned to mingle.

Padme was walking by the door when she heard the door chimes. She opened the door and there was Sabe, along with Ambassador Zane, his wife, and their daughter Annalise.

"Sabe!" Padme cried and hugged her bodyguard. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Like I'd miss it!" she smiled. "Now, where's that Obi-Wan? I know he's here."

Padme chuckled and pointed him out. "Just watch out, he got mobbed today and might be a little skittish."

Sabe smirked. "Yeah, I know, I was in that group. Damned Jedi Mind Trick. Won't work here, though." She prowled off through the crowd.

Padme shook her head and turned back to the Zanes. "Thank you for coming!" she said.

Ambassador Zane did a half-bow; his wife barely nodded. Annalise stepped forward and gave Padme an enthusiastic half-hug. "Congratulations on your anniversary!" she exclaimed. "I wish you two many more years together. Do you have a place I can toss this wrap?"

"Of course; back in the second bedroom." Padme motioned toward the room then stepped aside so the Zanes could enter. Annalise took off for the bedroom as the Zanes made a beeline for some other ambassadors clumped by the verandah.

Out in the living room, Yoda was holding a glass of wine and engaging in a heated debate with Ambassador Zane.

"An attractive color for thieves, yellow is. Paint it, you should."

"Why should I cater to them?"

"Like your speeder being borrowed, you must."

"I most certainly do not!"

"Then paint it, you should."

Ambassador Zane threw up his hands and walked away. Yoda tottered over to another group of people and began regaling them with stories from a long time ago.

Sabe was over by Obi-Wan, feeding him pieces of passionfruit generously dunked in wine. He seemed to be moving closer to her by the second. Finally he winked and motioned comically toward the second bedroom. She grinned and grabbed his arm, and they disappeared.

Palpatine put in an appearance for a few minutes, but only long enough to tell Anakin threw the best parties on Coruscant and that he foresaw great things for him.

Mace stalked around, looking for Obi-Wan. "Have you seen him, Padme?"

Padme hid a smile. "I haven't, I'm sorry. Would you like me to relay a message?"

"Yeah, tell him if he ever sets a completely insane mob of females on me again, I'm going to personally introduce him to his new practice of learning to communicate as a Force entity." He stormed off.

After accepting many congratulations and well wishes, Padme finally found Anakin alone in the kitchen and threw her arms around him. "I hate being around this many people!" she whispered. "All I want is to be alone with you."

He smiled wickedly. "Just wait til they're gone," he whispered.

She sighed. "That's going to be forever. Just getting Obi-Wan and Sabe out of here is going to be a miracle."

"Well, we'll point them at the spare room, and then forget that they're in there."

She shook her head and chuckled. "You are so bad."

A comically innocent look crossed his face. "Who, me? I'm just trying to help him relax!"

She slapped his shoulder. "You! Well, never mind all that, I'm going to go grab that last bottle of wine."

"We only have one more?"

"We didn't invite half these people, remember? They just sort of ... found out."

He shrugged. "True, true. I'm going to go mingle, I guess." He trudged out of the kitchen.

Padme made her way through the crowd back toward her bedroom. As she opened the closet door, she saw a flimsy of the latest gossip column on their bed.

"Now how did this get here?" She picked it up and skimmed it, unconsciously sticking her lip out petulantly at "Senator Fashionista". Her jaw dropped at the second paragraph, and she rolled up the flimsy and stalked into the living room.

Continue to Part Two